A Year in Photos

How to Tell a Consistent Visual Story in Your Annual Photo Book

You’ve decided to start (or continue!) the tradition of building an Annual Album. You’ve collected all of your photos from the past year, and you’ve curated down to which ones tell the best stories — now you’re unsure of how to thread together a continuous story through each chapter bead on your year’s necklace. Read on to see our five creative ideas for how to tell a consistent visual story across your year’s worth of moments and memories.

This article will give tips to build layouts within a variety of our photo books and albums. Check out our favorite books to start building your annual album.

Style 01

Same Layout Throughout

Photo-Wrapped Hardcover, Softcover Photo Book, Layflat Photo Album

One of the easiest ways to create visual continuity across many different photo styles and settings is to use the same photo layout throughout the whole book. Whether it’s the same layout on each page (Option 1) or the same layout per page spread (Options 2 and 3), the consistency helps to minimize the visual differentiation across all of your photos.

Style 02

Same Color Throughout - Black and White Filter

Layflat Photo Album

Another easy way to make a group of unalike photos look more similar is to apply a black and white filter to all of them. This provides such a strong visual flow. Feel free to use any layout across the whole book to balance out the subtlety of the black and white photography.

Pro tip: Use the black and white filter option in the Artifact Uprising Books Editor to filter them all in one place.

Style 03

Same Color Throughout - Pop of Color

Photo-Wrapped Hardcover & Everyday Photo Book

Or if you’re interested in a challenge, look for the same or similar pops of color across all of your year’s photos and put only images that have pops of that specific color into the book. We suggest something easy like blue or green!

Style 04

Handwritten Captions and Elements

Photo-Wrapped Hardcover & Layflat Photo Album

An easy and cool way to add some personality and coherence to your year’s photos is to handwrite your captions and draw little elements that accentuate each photo. (We know it can be intimidating to write in a newly minted book but we often remind ourselves that there’s beauty in the imperfections.) So sit down, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy flipping through your album adding a few extra touches.

Pro tip: If you want to handwrite in your photo book, make sure to choose matte or superfine paper - it will hold the ink without smearing.

Style 05

Use the Text Only Layout Option as a Chapter Page

Photo-Wrapped Hardcover, Softcover Photo Book, Layflat Photo Album

If nothing else, a fun way to create visual uniformity is to separate out each time period or grouping of similar-photos by using chapter or section dividers. Our ‘Text Only’ page layout is perfect for this use-case (you can find the ‘Text Only’ layout option at the bottom of the layouts drawer in the editor).

Pro tip: To achieve the looks above, use multiple text boxes with different fonts and sizes. Play around until you find a style that fits you and then repeat throughout the book.

As we reach the end of our journey through visual storytelling, it’s important to remember that no matter how you choose to design your Annual Photo Album, it remains uniquely yours — a personal tapestry woven from your experiences and perspectives. We encourage you to keep telling your story in the way that resonates most deeply with you. And, if you’re ever inclined, we’d be honored to see your story come to life, share your moments with us on social media and tag us tag us #tellon.